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[no sounds] [no sounds] [no sounds] [no sounds] [no sounds] >> this is mission control houston. amongst the well-wishers here at mission control, mike côte, the

director of the johnson space center who flew on the maiden flight of the stay shuttle discovery. joining others here in the flight control room which is now filled with people expressing their emotions and their congratulations on the completion of the space shuttle program. [no sounds] [no sounds]

[no sounds] [no sounds] once again here at mission control the room is filled with the greats from the history of the shuttle program who have spent the past three decades in support of mission operations to bring all of these flights to conclusion.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[no sounds] [no sounds] >> this is mission control houston. it has been just over an hour since atlantis has landed at the kennedy space center. and with the vehicle now having been handed over to the kennedy space center for the final time, we will return to the floor space port and continuing coverage of the completion of the final mission and space shuttle program history. for the last time in this room, this is mission control houston.

[no sounds] [no sounds] [no sounds] >> this is kennedy space center shuttle ground operations. one hour eight minutes 35 seconds after the landing of space shuttle atlantis.

right now we see the payload then has moved up around the nose of atlantis. it will be used very shortly to take the three middeck -- time critical science experiments off middeck and will be going to an off-line laboratory at the space station processing facility before the effects of gravity have a chance to change the data that the scientists are looking for on those experiments. right now, the communications coming from the flight deck from the asp are being relayed to houston through the tracking

station to their uhf antenna, and there is still telemetry data going back to houston through milos s. band uplink antenna. and this will be the last mission for the mileage tracking station. it's been supporting manned space operations since the early days of apollo. and its history ends with sts-135. out on the runway the main chute has been recovered, and work is underway now to bring back the drag chute.

crews are going in under atlantis now. the orbiter has cooled. landing gear has been pinned and some initial tile inspections will begin. the data from the onboard flight, data recorders, has been dumped. the data dump has been completed. it's been uplink to houston through mila. turnover the kennedy occurred at landing plus an hour, nominal time.

temperature, the landing hatch was open at 628, about 31 minutes after landing. and our first crew member was off. it was mission specialist number two, rex walheim. he was off at 6:37. he was followed by sandy magnus, then our pilot, commander chris ferguson left atlanta's at 6:45. and payloads report they now are on board the orbiter.

and as we heard, all of the ground cooling are connected as we can see here on atlantis. the weather forecast from the runway back to the orbiter processing facility has just been passed to the ground team out on the runway, and the toe is expected to begin at about 10:00, completed about an hour later at 11. it's going to get hot very quickly. here is the crew transport vehicle now pulling back away from atlantis. with the for astronauts onboard.

they will be getting a brief physical before they leave the crew transport vehicle and walk around atlantis. and the weather forecast for the tow will be quite warm, once that tow begins. already up to 94 degrees during the tow later this morning. wind will be out of the southwest, just 20% chance of rain showers. meanwhile, the sun is well above the horizon on a beautiful, clear morning here at kennedy space center. general-purpose computers on atlantis have been powered down.

the crew will have the chance to do the customary walk around, a tradition which began back with sts-1, with john young and bob griffith.

[no sounds] [no sounds] >> we will be watching for the stairs to come down from the transport vehicle. we expect the astronauts will have a short statement to make before they leave the runway to go back to the astronaut quarters. and with them also with some remarks we are nasa administrator, charlie bolden. also serve as a stay shuttle astronaut -- also who has served as a stay shuttle astronaut.

and the staircase on the crew transport vehicle is now coming down. meanwhile, seems a lot of foot traffic on and off the orbiter as things are being destowed.

[no sounds] [no sounds] >> the activities are going right on time when. in fact, some things are ahead and there have not been any anomalies, nothing unusual noted. right now the distances for the landing gear, the point where the wheels stopped on the runway is being measured. and the commander is now leaving the crew transport vehicle, along with our other astronauts,

being greeted by our nasa administrator and our center director, bob cabana. we see sandy magnus, doug hurley, rex walheim and chris ferguson. john shannon from houston. our launch vehicles atlantis flow manager, angie brewer. tom shannon who has served as our program manager out at houston for shuttle program.

we see our launch director in the background, mike leinbach. and mike moses along with mike leinbach. there's our deputy administrator and our administrator, charlie bolden.

the singing of happiness as was mixed emotions. here is the atlantis banner that was on atlantis when the hatch was closed. with rex walheim, his picture made with atlantis is banner. barred from the space alliance -- bart from the space alliance.

sandy magnus. [no sounds] [no sounds]

[no sounds] [no sounds] >> now we're underneath atlantis. the crew is going to be going over to the landing gear and looking at the tiles. there's our administrator charlie bolden again. the pilot doug hurley. doug hurley in the red hat.

[no sounds] [no sounds] [no sounds] [no sounds] >> there is sandy magnus.

[no sounds] [no sounds] >> and our pilot again and there in the red hat is doug hurley. >> the crew is going back to houston tomorrow afternoon, and

as soon as they get back to the astronaut boards very shortly they will have a chance to have a reunion with their immediate family members. they will have a more thorough physical, and that will occur before they get something to e eat. and there's our commander, chris ferguson.

there's our center director once again, bob cabana, director of kennedy space center. bob cabana is talking with our commander, chris ferguson. bob cabana also has served as an astronaut on the space shuttles. [no sounds] [no sounds]

[no sounds] [no sounds] >> rex walheim, and we see in the background, providing all the cooling right now.

the onboard cooling systems are off. astronaut john casper who serve as our weather officer here in the fire room during lunch and has been responsible for conveying a lot of information, between our shuttle reconnaissance and mission control at houston.

john casper also shuttle astronaut. [no sounds] [no sounds] >> the weather out on the runway is still very favorable. it's still cool, not as hot as it will be by late morning, in

the mid '90s. just a few showers offshore moving away from the cape. and all of the activity continues to be on schedule to start a tow back to our processing facility, about 10 a.m. [inaudible conversations] >> you all probably can't hear me out there but i'm going to talk to the mic anyway. it's a great day to be here and to welcome the sts-134 crew back home. i personally want to salute them anyone who's been involved in this program. it's been a 30 year journey that has been absolutely incredible.

and i want to say that all of us stand on the shoulders of some pretty giants. nine any better than this. they have come to be known as the final four. and they didn't absolutely incredible job. if you had an opportunity to watch anytime during the mission, they were like resources the whole time. they made us very proud. we've been exploring since early in our countries history, and what fergie and his crew did this time was kind of close out this era of our exploration. but i want everybody was involved in this to feel incredibly proud of what you did and what your role was. like me, they got an opportunity to do the flying but we are all an incredible debt of gratitude of hundreds of thousands of folks around the country who made all this possible. had a chance to talk to some of you this morning, and we were lining up the convoy. i thank you again for everything

you have done. the things that we have done have set us up for exploration in the future, but i don't want to talk about that right now. i want to salute this group, welcomed him home, let them know how proud we are of them. and fergie, ask you to come on up and talk to your crew. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, charlie. we really appreciate those remarks. i'll tell you what. flying in space is a real dream, but flying in space has a lot more to do with who you do it with than what you do. and these three folks, rex and sandy and done, i'll to you, a commander couldn't ask for three better people to go and perform an aggressive, into a certain extent, a historic mission. there's no doubt that there is a lot of attention paid to this mission because it does bring to a final close 30 years of space shuttle history.

i'm going to speak on behalf of them and just say that we are all, the three of us, or four of us, are honored to be a part of this. but ultimately it's everyone who has worked on the shuttle program, although we got to take the ride, we sure hope that everybody who has ever worked or touched or looked at or in deed or admired a space shuttle was able to dig just a little part of the journey with us. we're going to put atlantis in a museum now, along with the other three orbiters, for generations that will come after us to admire and appreciate. and hopefully, i want that picture of a young six-year-old boy looking up at a space shuttle in a museum and say, you know, daddy, i want to do something like that when i grow up, or i want our country to do fantastic things like this for the continued future. if we take those steps right now and they continued with that,

that next generation of space explorers, and i consider our job your complete. so again on half of the crew, thank you so much for the time and the attention and for the folks at ksc, thank you for this fantastic vehicle. it performed absolutely wonderfully. not a glitch. and it's just as pristine as it was i hope on the day that we took it. the door opened up low bit on entry but everything is wonderful. the vehicle is great, and thank you very much. [applause] >> [no sounds]

multipurpose logistic[no sounds] >> and the crew very shortly is going to be handing over to the astronaut -- heading over to the astronaut transport van. you can see some of the activity, putting on the payload bay and, things coming off the flight deck.

the crew right now is expected to have a news conference at about 12 noon. that will be carried live on nasa television. we see them boarding the astro van. post landing news conference with our senior management will be at 10 a.m. eastern time.

[no sounds] [no sounds] >> and there they go. [no sounds]

[no sounds] >> and the crew has departed the runway, one hour and 30 minutes after landing on runway 15. so this will conclude our live landing coverage. we will go now to some replace of the landing of atlantis this morning. once again, that will be followed at 10:00 with our post landing news conference, and then a press briefing at noon with our sts 135 astronauts. at one hour 39 minutes 35 seconds after the landing of

atlantis, and sts-135, for the final time this is kennedy space shelter under an -- kennedy space center operations. [no sounds] [no sounds]

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[no sound] ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> hi. i'm chris ferguson of the sts-135 crew, and you're watching nasa-tv. >> all three engines up and burning. two, one, zero, and liftoff! the final liftoff of atlantis. on the shoulders of the space shuttle, america will continue the dream. from launch complex 39 at the kennedy space center in florida, this is shuttle launch patrol at t-minus three hours and be holding. and we're now in the final five hour of the countdown for the launch of the last flight of the

space shuttle program and space shuttle atlantis on sts-135. here's our commander, chris ferguson. he's in the suit-up room. he's having a fit check of his helmet. pilot doug hurley. this is his second trip into space. and here is mission specialist number one, sandy magnus. this is rex wall heym, he's our mission specialist number two. and here they come. [no sound] [background sounds] >> the crew going down the elevator where they'll be

greeted by employees from kennedy space center and members of the news media. this is the same elevator that's been used by the astronauts since the first apollo. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] [background sounds] [cheers and applause]

>> the flight crew is now in the flight room of the orbiter access arm. members of the closeout crew are in the white coveralls, and the astronauts, of course, are in the orange pressure suits. the closeout crew will be assisting the astronauts with their helmets and other equipment as they enter the orbiter. >> in the white room, that's chris, number five, and travis, number one, and they're just getting rex in. hopefully, if things go in today, this will be the last astronaut you'll see climbing into a vehicle to go fly into space on the shuttle. [no sound]

[no sound] >> and attention all personnel, this is the ntd conducting the launch status check. verify count and go for launch. >> otc is a go. >> ptc? >> ptc is go. >> lps? is. >> lps. >> houston flight, if you pull me at the end, i would appreciate it. >> yes, sir, we'll pull you later: milo? >> >> milo is a go. >> sbe? >> sbe is go. >> lrd? >> lrd is go. >> sro? >> >> sro is go, you have a range to launch. >> and cdr? >> cdr is go. >> and launch director, our launch team is set to proceed with the exception of flight who still needs a little bit of

time. >> copy that. i'll do my poll at this time. verify no constraints to launch. >> no constraints. >> thank you, steve. [inaudible] >> make assurance, it's go, mike. >> thank you, terry. pedro, launch manager. >> hey, want to say thanks to the shuttle team. it's been a great partnership, and can it's a go. >> thank you, bill. appreciate that. >> range weather. >> range weather has no constraints for launch. >> thank you, kathy. >> on behalf of -- [inaudible] we are a go. >> okay. ops manager? >> mike, we could give final go from flight here. let's see what he says, and we'll get back to you. >> cover that. >> atlantis launch director, air to ground one. >> atlantis, go. >> okay, fergie. we're starting to feel pretty good down on the ground about this one, so on behalf of the greatest team in the world, good luck to you and your crew on the

final flight of this american icon. fergie, doug, sandy and rex, good luck and godspeed. have a little fun up there. >> thank you, mike. until the very end, you all made it look easy. it's a reflection of what the world can do when it commits to be bold. we're completing a chapter of a journey that will never end. you and the thousands of men and women who gave their hearts, souls and lives to the cause of exploration have witnessed history. let's light this one more time, mike, and witness this great nation at its best. the crew of atlantis is ready to launch. >> thank you, sir. we'll get you going here in a couple of minutes. >> ntd, houston flight on 212. >> go ahead, flight. >> for the record, i'm go. >> ntd copies, and launch director, that is our entire launch team. we are ready to proceed at this time. >> copy that ntd, was that your

clear launch, atlantis. >> i copy that, sir. thank you. >> the countdown clock will resume on my mark; three, two, one, mark. >> t-minus nine minutes and counting. >> launch sequence has been initiated. >> orbiter access arm retract. >> atlantis, this is otc. this day has been over 30 years in the making. there have been many fabulous missions throughout the years. on behalf of ksc launch teams past and present, we salute the entire astronaut corps for their dedication not only for our ec pabded knowledge -- expanded knowledge of the universe, but for the improvements you have contributed to on earth. have an excellent mission and godspeed. >> fantastic words, roberta, thank you very much. thank you to the team. >> plt-otc, perform ap start.

>> [inaudible] >> cdr-otc, reconfigure be heaters. >> that's in works. >> flight crew, otc, close and lock your visors and initiate o2 flow. >> that's in works. >> t-minus two minutes. >> it's a go for et. >> t-minus 40 seconds, handing off to atlantis' computers at t-minus 31. t-minus 35, 33 -- >> clock will hold at t-minus 31 due to a failure. >> and we have had a failure. launch sequencer -- >> we had a problem with -- [inaudible]

>> go ahead. >> yes, sir. we need to go do the verification for the ltc. >> all right. >> says we need to reply using a camera, and we're positioning camera two right now. >> okay. tell us when 62 is swung over and you can verify retract, please. >> this is the cmac. we verify, retracted. >> all right. std concurs, they satisfied the requirements, i am go. >> okay. i copy that, launch director. >> yes, sir. heard all that and concur. press on. >> resume the clock on your mark. >> copy that. chloric will resume -- clock will resume on my mark; three, two, one, mark. >> t-minus -- >> auto sequence start. >> handoff to atlantis' computers has occurred. ..

>> twenty-four seconds into the flight, rogue ram complete. atlantis is heads down on the proper alignment, for an half-million pounds of hardware and humans taking aim on the international space station.

40 seconds into the flight, the three liquid fuel main engines throttling back to 72%. reducing stress as it goes transonic for the final time. engines now revving up standing by for the throttle up call. atlantis, go and throttle up. no action. >> throttle up, no action on dt. >> a transducer only, no action required. atlantis now 15 miles in altitude, already 16 miles down range from the kennedy space

center, 1:40 into the flight. atlantis flexing its muscles one final time. atlantis traveling almost 2600 miles an hour, 21 miles in altitude, 24 miles down rich. standing by for solid rocket booster separation. booster officer confirmed staging, good separation. guidance now converging. a pinpoint pass to its preliminary orbit. to 20 into the flight. traveling 3200 miles an hour. 50 miles down range. standing by for main engine cutoff. booster officer confirms main engine cut off. for the last time the space

shuttle's main engines have fallen silent as the shuttle slips into the final chapter of a storied 30 year adventure. now standing by for external tank separation. [applause] [applause] [inaudible] back the gratitude i have for the job that you do. this is the most outstanding group, most dedicated launch team of technicians and engineers anywhere in the world. and the united states owes you a deep debt of thanks. and i want to thank you for your service to our country. thank you for your service to

nasa. and again, to the shuttle program. and most of all, thank you for this outstanding ride that we have had for the last 30 years aboard a united states space shuttle. you guys are absolutely the best. thank you. [applause] >> that morning, atlantis. we wish you a successful mission and the safe return home. jew ♪ ♪ ♪ >> 134 before that. spent atlantis using, -- copy,

good config. >> flying high over the atlantic ocean off the west coast of africa. we are just seconds away from this course correction burn as we watch over the shoulders of chris ferguson and doug hurley up on the flight deck of atlantis. you can see very clearly i can like jolt of those big orbiter maneuvering system engines. and courtesy of space station cameras, our first year of the shuttle atlantis. >> good burn, atlantis. >> copy. >> the sequential still video view of the international space station. >> atlantis, station on the big loop. we have you in site. >> excellent. we will be there soon.

>> atlantis houston, you are go for the rpm. go to proceed inside 600 feet. >> houston station, atlantis, initiating rpm and three, two, one. mark. we copy. >> houston copy. step with that, commander chris ferguson now will begin the slow three-quarter of a degree per second rotational backflip. this again is about a nine minute maneuver. you will hear the photography call initiated when the orbiter is in the correct orientation of this procedure. the actual pitch maneuver will last about nine minutes in duration. about 93 seconds of available photography.

>> atlantis on the big loop. start photo. >> starting photos spent and without a period of about 93 seconds of good photography now initiated, using digital cameras and high-powered lenses out of the service module. the rendezvous officer indicates the flight director that commander chris ferguson has flown a textbook arm bar pitch maneuver. you can see the structure of the international space station now coming into view as both spacecraft passed over. atlantis is coming up on the so-called myanmar, velocity vector. spent atlantis houston, on the big loop. you are go for docking.

>> atlantis on the big loop path is go for docking. >> we don't see a flight out. we are initiating final approach. >> houston, copy. >> copy. >> pilot doug hurley informing both station and shuttle flight control rooms that no fly out is required, meaning no additional alignment required. commander chris ferguson is dead spot on with the to docking mechanisms, perfectly aligned, contact to docking confirmed. capture confirmed at 10:07. >> we see three trips spirit station friedrich is confirmed.

>> atlantis arrived. to the international space station for the last time. >> it's great to be here, station. see you shortly. >> it's good to be home on station. how is everybody? [inaudible] >> good to see you. >> hey, doug. hey, mike. >> great to be here. >> sergei. >> in the wake of yesterday's docking of atlantis to the international space station, the heavy lifting begins. the highlight of which will be the un-birthing and removal of the raffaello multipurpose

logistics module from the cargo bay of atlantis. raffaello is 21.6 feet long, 15 feet wide, fully loaded weighs about 12 and a half tons. it is equipped and supplied by 9403 pounds of cargo that will be transferred to the international space station over the course of the next several days. >> and houston atlantis congress starting the maneuver. >> copy, sandy. we are following spirit and with kid gloves, sandy magnus beginning the process of un-birthing raffaello from atlantis is cargo bay. >> and atlantis the mplm is un-birthday. i don't know if you want to mess with the camera to see if it's working, but if you managed to get it on you can't. >> okay, we will take care of that. thanks. >> you are go for capture.

>> houston, we'll pick up at 1.108. step one. we are ready to open up the hatch. >> fergie, we copy and we are good on that. >> rob, are you guys up on the columbus kami are pointing down? >> that's affirmative. >> okay. so for all you guys who worked, i would like to announce the return of the sox. >> we have a great view, thanks. >> just a little install should therefore a moment. >> we appreciate it. >> sts-135, pilot doug hurley there, along with sandy magnus been a fairly large sized heat exchanger through the station. there's quite a bit of equipment